Transparency and Trust

Family.me provides the www.family.me website (the “Website”) to you (“You” or “Your”) subject to these terms (“Terms”) and subject to Family.me’s Privacy Policy incorporated herein by reference. These Terms require that disputes between us be resolved by binding arbitration rather than by jury trials or class actions and limit your remedies in the event of a dispute.

You accept these Terms by accessing or using the Website in any manner, even if You do not create an Account with Family.me. You represent and warrant that You are at least 13 years of age. Any use or access of the Website by anyone under the age of 13 is prohibited. Family.me may change these Terms at any time, including by adding new provisions or removing existing provisions, except as otherwise provided in these Terms. The most current version of these Terms can be accessed at Terms of Use. By continuing to access or use the Website, You accept any changes or revisions to the Terms. If you do not agree to all of these terms, do not use the Website.

References to “Family.me,” “You,” “user,” “we,” and “us” in these terms include (where appropriate) our respective subsidiaries, parent companies, members, affiliates, agents, employees, predecessors in interest, successors, and assigns, as well as all authorized or unauthorized users or beneficiaries of services provided by Family.me.

1. Accounts and Logins

a) In connection with Your creation of an Account, You will create a Login and Password.

b) You agree that You will not:

Distribute Your Login or Password to any other person, authorize use of Your Account by any other person, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
Transfer, sub-license, sell, or assign Your rights in Your Account to any other person.
Solicit login information or access an Account belonging to someone else.
Create more than one personal account.
Create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
Provide any false personal information on the Website.

c) If You believe that a third-party has gained access to Your Account, You agree to notify Family.me by sending an email to support@family.me. Family.me reserves the right to terminate Your Account at any time for any reason. If Your Account is terminated, Family.me has no obligation to retain any data associated with Your Account.

d) If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.

e) Any unauthorized use of Your Account by any third-party is subject to these Terms as though You were using the Account.

2. Sharing Your Content and Information

Portions of the content on the Website are submitted by You and other users ("User Provided Content"), to which You may contribute appropriate material. User Provided Content includes, but is not limited to, any information you upload to the Website, any posts you make on the Website, and any comments or suggestions you send to us. For User Provided Content, we are merely hosting and providing access as well as providing tools to post and share content, and we cannot accept any liability with regard to such material (including with respect to its accuracy). While we cannot preview or monitor the User Provided Content, Family.me may delete any content that we believe to be in violation of this Agreement. We reserve the right, but do not have the obligation, to act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any User Provided Content that we believe violates this Agreement. We are also sensitive to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others.

The decision to upload or share User Provided Content on the Website is Your responsibility and You should only submit or share User Provided Content that belongs to you (or where you have obtained all necessary permissions or consents) and that will not violate the rights of others. Be aware that copyright and other intellectual property rights will normally belong to the creator of the material in question and You should not reproduce or submit anything without permission of the owner. By submitting User Provided Content to the Website, You represent and warrant that You have the right to do so or that you have obtained any necessary third party consents (e.g., under privacy or intellectual property laws). You agree that you will be liable to us and indemnify us for any loss or damage we suffer as a result of your breach of the foregoing warranties. Upon our request You agree to furnish Family.me with any documentation, substantiation and releases necessary and reasonably required to verify and substantiate your compliance with this provision.

By submitting User Provided Content on the Websites, you grant Family.me a perpetual, transferable, sublicenseable, worldwide, royalty-free, license to host, store, copy, publish, distribute, provide access to create derivative works of, and otherwise use User Provided Content submitted by You to the Website, to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered. You hereby release Family.me from any and all claims, liens, demands, actions or suits in connection with the User Provided Content You submit, including, without limitation, any and all liability for any use or nonuse of your User Provided Content, claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, emotional distress or economic loss. This license continues even if You stop using the Website. Family.me may scan, image and/or create an index from the User Provided Content you submit. In this situation, you grant Family.me a license to the User Provided Content as described above and Family.me will own the digital version of documents created by Family.me as well as any indexed information that Family.me creates. Except for the rights granted in this Agreement, Family.me acquires no title or ownership rights in or to any User Provided Content You submit and nothing in this Agreement conveys any ownership rights in such User Provided Content on the Website. The licenses granted continue for the maximum time permitted by applicable law, even if You stop using the Website.

You acknowledge and agree that Family.me may preserve any User Provided Content and may disclose any User Provided Content (including its origin) if Family.me believes that it is required to do so by law or that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process or governmental requests; (b) enforce the Agreement; (c) respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or safety of the Website, other users, or the public.

3. License to Use the Website

a) Family.me grants You a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited and revocable license to use the Website subject to the Terms. You may use the Website and information acquired from the Website for personal purposes only.

b) Certain content provided on the Website may be sourced from other third party sites and if noted, is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareALike License. Your use of any such content must also comply with those license terms.

c) You may not attempt to access Family.me servers or the Website by any means other than connecting to the Website by http request using a web browser. In particular, You are prohibited from scraping, crawling, data-mining, or using any robot, spider, or other automatic device to send queries to the Family.me servers or the Website. You may not use the Website to compile data or images for use by any commercial entity.

d) You agree not to disrupt, modify or interfere with the Website, or its associated software, hardware, and servers in any way. You agree not to impede or interfere with others’ use of the Website. You further agree not to alter or tamper with any information or materials on or associated with the Website.

e) You may not use the Website or any information acquired from the Website:

To engage in activities that would violate applicable local, state, national or international law, or any regulations having the force of law, including the laws, regulations, and ordinances of any jurisdiction from which You access the Website.
In any manner that may violate any local, state, federal, or international privacy law to which You may be subject on the basis of Your location or the location of the person searched.
To post content that infringes or violates someone else’s rights.
To post content that is: hate speech, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
To send any commercial communications, including email and text messages.
To bully, intimidate, or harass any user.
To reproduce, copy or sell any portion of the Website or Family.me database contents, or systematically download contents and data of the Family.me database to make or populate another database or for any other purpose.
“Deep link” or frame, inline link or mirror any part of the Website without Family.me’s written permission.

4. Assignments

Family.me may assign this agreement at any time without notice to You. You may not assign this agreement to anyone else, and any attempt to assign shall be void.

5. Information Available Through the Website

a) Family.me aggregates publicly available information such as birth, marriage, and death records from public sources (“Public Information”). This Public Information may be made available to users through the Website’s features.

b) Family.me does not verify this Public Information. Family.me does not evaluate each piece of information provided and makes no guarantees to the Website users about the accuracy, legitimacy, or legality of any information or how recently any information was collected or updated. As a user of the Website, You agree that there are no warranties or guarantees whatsoever regarding the information provided. Further, You agree to rely on the information available through the Website at Your own risk.

6.Privacy Policy

Family.me maintains a Privacy Policy describing its collection, retention, and use of information about users of the Website. This policy can be accessed at family.me/privacy.html and is incorporated herein by reference.

7. Communications from Family.me

As a Website user, you may, from time to time, receive e-mail communications from us about your Account or features of the Website. You may elect to opt-out of these communications at any time by following the instructions and link provided within the e-mail communication.

8. Family.me Intellectual Property

a) Family.me is the exclusive owner of trademark rights in the FAMILY.ME mark, copyright in the software used through the Website, and except as otherwise noted herein, copyright in the Website screen displays, and all other rights in the Website and technology under U.S. and international intellectual property laws.

b) Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication, or otherwise.

c) Except as expressly authorized by Family.me, You agree not to use Family.me’s trademark or any mark confusingly similar to the FAMILY.ME mark. You agree not to reproduce, distribute, display or create derivative works of any part of the Website or any information presented to You through the Website, in whole or in part. This prohibition includes unauthorized copying or distribution of any of the content displayed or used on the Website, framing content from the Website, or creating any unauthorized derivative work.

d) Family.me uses third-party trademarks on the Website to identify the owners of those marks. Use of any third-party trademark is meant only to identify the trademark owner and its goods and services, and is not intended to imply any association or sponsorship between the trademark owner and the Website.

e) The Website may provide certain content sourced from third party websites. The original authors of such content may be found on the source site. Family.me does not assert any copyright in these materials.

9. Submission of Confidential Information and Ideas

From time to time users submit ideas to Family.me for improving the Website either by email or in the course of a customer service interaction. Family.me has no obligation to treat this material as confidential information. To the extent that You wish to have Your idea remain confidential, to retain rights in Your idea, or wish to be compensated for submission of Your idea, please do not submit it to Family.me.

10. Intellectual Property Claims

a) If You believe that Your copyright has been infringed in any way by Family.me, promptly provide in writing all of the following information to dmca@family.me:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or if multiple copyrighted works at a single on-line site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material.
Information reasonably sufficient to permit Family.me to contact You, such as an address, telephone number and e-mail address.
A statement that You have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that You are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

b) The Designated Agent for Family.me is:

Attn: Jason Matthes, General Counsel

DMCA Designated Agent

556 S. Fair Oaks Avenue #101-179  

 Pasadena, CA 91105

c) If You believe that Your other intellectual property rights have been infringed in any way by Family.me, please provide a detailed description of the alleged infringement for further investigation via e-mail to legal@family.me. Family.me’s receiving, investigating, or responding to Your e-mail shall not constitute Family.me’s agreement or verification of Your claim(s) nor any admission of liability therefor. Family.me makes no commitment, covenant, promise, warranty, representation, or guarantee that it will receive, review, investigate, or respond to Your claim within any particular time.

d) If we remove Your content for infringing someone else's copyright, and You believe we removed it by mistake, we will provide You with an opportunity to appeal.

e) If You repeatedly infringe other people's intellectual property rights, we will disable Your account when appropriate.

11. Notification

Any notices to be given to Family.me under these Terms shall be made in writing to the following address:

Family.me

556 S. Fair Oaks Avenue #101-179 

Pasadena, CA 91105

b) You agree that Family.me can send You electronic notices to the e-mail address that You provided to Family.me in creating Your Account or by displaying the notice on the Website. You agree that all notices, agreements, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to You electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

12. Warranty

a) YOU USE FAMILY.ME.COM AT YOUR SOLE RISK (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM, LOSS OF DATA, DAMAGE RESULTING FROM RELIANCE ON INFORMATION FROM THE WEBSITE, OR OTHER DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM OBTAINING ANY CONTENT FROM THE WEBSITE INCLUDING COMPUTER VIRUSES) EVEN IF FAMILY.ME HAS BEEN ADVISED OF OR IS AWARE OF THE RISK OF SUCH DAMAGE. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, FAMILY.ME PROVIDES THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, THE INFORMATION AND THE CONTENT “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” AND “WITH ALL FAULTS,” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND FAMILY.ME SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND/OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

b) NO INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED ON THE WEBSITE, BY FAMILY.ME, OR BY FAMILY.ME’S EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY.

c) FAMILY.ME MAKES NO WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION, COVENANT, OR GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED:

AS TO THE VALUE, QUALITY, TIMELINESS, USEFULNESS, RELIABILITY, SECURITY, SUITABILITY, TRUTHFULNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, THE INFORMATION, OR THE CONTENT;
THAT THE WEBSITE WILL OPERATE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE;
THAT THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, THE INFORMATION, OR THE CONTENT WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS;
AS TO THE QUALITY OR VALUE OF ANY OF FAMILY.ME’S PRODUCTS, SERVICES, CONTENT, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL YOU PURCHASE OR OBTAIN VIA THE WEBSITE; OR
THAT ANY ERRORS ON THE WEBSITE WILL BE CORRECTED.

13. Limitation of Liability

a) To the extent permitted by law, Family.me shall have no liability, relating to Your use of (or connection to) the Website for: (i) consequential, incidental, exemplary, special, or punitive damages even if advised of the possibility of such; (ii) loss of business, profits, business information, or business interruption, or any other pecuniary loss; or (iii) for direct damages, actually proven, exceeding $1,000.00 USD. This limitation shall be enforced even if it causes an exclusive remedy to fail of its essential purpose. This provision shall survive termination of the agreement between us.

b) Family.me reserves the right, at any time, in Family.me’s sole and exclusive discretion, to amend, modify, suspend, or terminate the Website, any services, information or content, or any part thereof, and/or Your use of or access to them, with or without notice. Family.me shall have no liability to You or any other person or entity for any modification, suspension, or termination, or any loss of related information.

14. Indemnification

a) You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Family.me, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and suppliers, harmless from and against any claims, actions or demands, liabilities and settlements including without limitation, reasonable legal and related fees and expenses, resulting from, or alleged to result from, Your violation of these Terms or Your use of the Website.

b) Family.me reserves the right to assume exclusive control of its defense in any matter subject to Your indemnification, which shall not excuse Your obligation to indemnify Family.me. You shall not settle any dispute subject to Your indemnification under these Terms without written consent from Family.me.

c) The provisions of this Section 14 shall survive termination of the agreement between us.

15. Choice of Law

a) If You are a citizen or resident of the United States, the law of the state of Your residence governs this contract and any claim or dispute that You may have against us, without regard to that state’s conflict of laws rules, to the extent that such law is not preempted by federal law. If You are a citizen or resident of another country, the law of the State of California shall apply.

b) The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall have no applicability.

c) The provisions of this Section 15 shall survive termination of the agreement between us.

16. Effect of Violation of Terms

a) If You violate the letter or spirit of these Terms or our policies, or otherwise create risk or possible legal exposure to us, we can remove any content or information you post on the Website, or stop providing all or part of the Website to You. We will notify you by email or at the next time You attempt to access Your Account.

17. Agreement to Arbitrate

Please read this carefully. It affects your rights.

a) Disputes Subject to Arbitration. Family.me and You agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims between us, including, but not limited to:

claims arising out of or relating to any aspect of the relationship between us, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory;
claims that arose before this or any prior agreement between us (including, but not limited to, claims relating to advertising or disclosures); and
claims that may arise after the termination of this agreement.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court, provided that it seeks relief that does not affect other customers.

Any dispute as to the arbitrability of claims or the scope or enforceability of this arbitration provision, or as to the interpretation of paragraph (18)(e) below, is for the court to decide. These Terms evidence a transaction in interstate commerce, and thus the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of the agreement between us.

b) Starting the Dispute-Resolution Process. A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other, by certified mail, a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). The Notice to Family.me should be addressed to: General Counsel, Family.me, Inc., 556 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite # 101-179, Pasadena, CA 91105 (“Notice Address”). The Notice must (a) provide Your mailing address, phone number, and account name (if any); (b) describe the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; and (c) set forth the specific relief sought (“Demand”). If Family.me and you do not reach an agreement to resolve the claim within 45 days after the Notice is received, You or Family.me may commence an arbitration proceeding with the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”).

c) Costs of Arbitration.

Family.me will pay all AAA filing, administration, and arbitrator fees for any arbitration we initiate. The payment of those fees for any arbitration that You initiate will be governed by the AAA Rules. The filing fee currently is $125 for claims for up to $10,000 in damages, but is subject to change by the AAA. However, if you initiate an arbitration in accordance with the notice requirements of paragraph (15)(b) and are seeking relief valued at $300 or less (both to You and us), Family.me will pay all AAA filing, administration, and arbitrator fees. If your claim is for greater than $300 but less than $10,000, Family.me will pay all such fees in excess of $20. After Family.me receives notice at the Notice Address that You have commenced such an arbitration, Family.me will promptly reimburse you for any portion of the filing fee that you paid that Family.me has agreed to pay.
If the arbitrator finds that either the substance of Your claim or the relief sought in the Demand is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all AAA filing, administration, and arbitrator fees shall be governed by the AAA Rules, and You agree to reimburse us for any amounts we have paid on Your behalf to the AAA.

d) Arbitration Procedures.

The arbitrator shall be bound by the terms of this arbitration provision. The arbitration will be governed by the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, “AAA Rules”) of the AAA, as modified by this arbitration provision. The AAA Rules are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879, or by writing to the Notice Address. The AAA shall administer the arbitration. If the AAA is unavailable, the arbitration will be administered by another arbitration provider that the parties agree to or that the court selects.
Unless Family.me and You agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county (or parish) of Your residence at the time of the filing of the Demand. If you bring a claim for $10,000 or less, we agree that You may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator, through a telephonic hearing, or by an in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules. If Your claim exceeds $10,000, the right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules.
Arbitrators may consider but shall not be bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving different customers. Arbitrators shall be bound by rulings in prior arbitrations involving the same customer to the extent required by applicable law.
Unless the parties agree otherwise, You and we must bring all directly related claims in a single arbitration proceeding. If You or we later initiate a subsequent arbitration asserting claims that are directly related to ones that were raised in a prior arbitration between the same parties, the AAA or the arbitrator shall either (1) consolidate the subsequent arbitration with the earlier proceeding if it is ongoing or (2) dismiss any claims raised in the subsequent arbitration that would be barred by applicable law if brought in court.
Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which the award is based. Although under some laws Family.me may have a right to an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses if it prevails in an arbitration, Family.me agrees that it will not seek such an award unless You are represented by an attorney and the arbitrator has determined that Your claim is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)).

e) Prohibition of Class or Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief. YOU AND FAMILY.ME AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF, CLASS MEMBER, OR PARTICIPANT IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL PROCEEDING. Further, unless both You and Family.me agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a class, representative, or private attorney general proceeding. The arbitrator may award any relief that a court could award, so long as the relief is individualized to the claimant and would not affect other Family.me users. Neither You nor we may seek non-individualized relief that would affect other Family.me users. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this paragraph’s limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court.

f) Future Changes to Agreement to Arbitrate. Notwithstanding any provision in these Terms to the contrary, we agree that if Family.me makes any future change to this arbitration provision (other than a change to the Notice Address, website links, or telephone numbers listed in this provision), any such changes will not affect disputes that arose before the effective date of the change.

18. Entire Agreement

a) These Terms and any Family.me policies posted on the Website constitute the entire contract between You and Family.me and supersede all previous written or oral contracts. Except as provided in paragraph (17)(e), if any part of the Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect. Any failure by us to enforce any term of Terms shall not affect our right to require performance at any subsequent time, nor shall the waiver by us of any breach by you of any provisions of these terms be taken to be a waiver of the provision or provisions itself.

Last Updated: June 13, 2016